[420 Girl]

CANNABIS with a street value of more than UKP4,000 was seized from the home of an arthritis sufferer who smoked it to ease his agony.

Barry Anthony Young, 27, of Cousin Lane, Ovenden, Halifax, admitted producing a kilo of cannabis at an earlier hearing.

Calderdale Magistrates Court heard how police raided Young's home in October.

Mark Steeples, prosecuting, said: "They were immediately met by the pungent smell of cannabis."

Officers seized 10 plants from two upstairs bedrooms and cannabis-growing paraphernalia, including hydroponic equipment, from the attic.

He told police they were taking his medicine away because he suffered from chronic arthritis, said Mr Steeples.

Young, who has no previous convictions but was cautioned for a similar offence in 2006, smoked around 1oz a week.

Sonia Kidd, for Young, said his illness was "incredibly painful" and one of the side effects of the prescribed medication he had been given aggravated a skin condition.

But she added: "Given the stress of court proceedings, irrespective of the pain he suffers, he will not use cannabis again."

Young was given 150 hours' unpaid work and ordered to pay UKP60 costs. The cannabis plants will be destroyed.

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